Parts Needed to Protect Trailer Battery from Overcharge Due to Vehicle Battery

Question:

I agree with you about wiring the electric jack through a trailer mounted battery, but could you please go a little further into it. If you let the BATT+ wire in the 7-way factory installed trailer harness feed the trailer battery, youll be in danger of overcharging the trailer battery!? How do you correct for that??? 2006 F=150 5.4 V8 Crew cab

asked by: Erik T

Expert Reply:

The 12V power from your 2006 Ford F-150 will actually only trickle charge the battery on your trailer, meaning the charge rate is very slow. If you are using your battery on a regular basis then it would be more beneficial to use a charger like part # CTEK56353 when you are parked than it would be to rely on your alternator to charge the battery.

With that being said, we do have a selection of battery charger/maintainers that you can add to your setup to help protect your battery. I recommend going with the Redarc In-Vehicle BCDC Battery Charger # 331-BCDC1225D which both charges and maintains your trailer 12V battery. This also gives you the option to connect a solar panel like part # 34273836 to helps the charging process speed up.

I have attached a link to our selection of solar panels that you can reference if you decide you want to go that route.

expert reply by: Jon G